Seattle Bound

Seattle Bound! August 20-21

Seattle Skyline

After a restful evening camping on the shores of Puget Sound I ordered up coffee and an omelet from Chef DJ and dined on the beach for breakfast. Afterwards I drove to Battle Point Park to burn some of those calories off by skating and taking shots at their outdoor hockey rink. I got a little more than I bargained for when a couple of 7 year olds that were there schooled me in the art of hockey.

Who knew big cranes keep Mt. Rainier from falling!?

Barely surviving the peewee hockey onslaught I showered off and headed down to the ferry. The last time I drove a vehicle on a ferry was during a high school surf expedition down to Cape Hatteras in my 1975 Chevy Caprice Classic. The "Metallic Dinosaur" as we called it, had dropped its exhaust system just minutes before loading on to the ferry. I'm not sure which was louder, my car or the ferry. Actually, it was no contest, the Metallic Dinosaur's un-muffled V-8 was ear splitting. Of course, that didn't stop us from terrorizing the Outer Banks all week. But I digress. So putting those bittersweet memories behind, I loaded on to the ferry  and watched as the Seattle skyline grew bigger and more pronounced by the minute.

Seattle Ferris,...I mean Ferry. Actually Both!

Chugging the van up some San Franciscan like hills I stepped out for a walk in Cal Anderson Park prior to moseying over to Bloedel Hall to attend a Dharmma talk by Rodney Smith who has been a "virtual" teacher of mine for many years. The series of talks I joined was the advanced topic of Dependent Origination (essentially the western "law of cause and effect", but in exquisite detail.) and that night's topic was "Desire". It was a nice treat to actually be there in person and participate in the evening instead of listening to it afterward via the internet. 

Mt. Baker

Although it was a little, actually a lot out of the way, it was recommended to me as a "not to be missed" destination so the next day I worked my way north to within spitting distance of Canada. Of course,  I didn't spit because Canada is a good neighbor and there is no reason to be disrespectful. And if I did spit then they would be like, "Hey, what's that all a boot?" Which would make me laugh hysterically because I find that accent hilarious and then from there an international incident might flair up. And we wouldn't want that! So to wrap up a way too long introduction, the destination I'm referring to was to be "Artist Point" which is within the Mt. Baker/Mt. Shuksan basin. 

With a name like "Artist Point" you have to expect some pretty glorious views and I wasn't disappointed. The first afternoon and evening I shot the Hell out of both Mt. Baker and Mt. Shuksan. Not surprisingly, many of those pics were of Mt. Shuksan with "Picture Lake" in the foreground. Supposedly this is "The Most Photographed" spot in all of the National Parks. I'm not sure if that is true and I don't know who is in charge of tabulating those statistics,  but for the record you can go ahead and add another  150 shots! The fact that it was the night of the full moon and I love shooting in moonlight didn't hurt me greatly increasing the shot count. 

Mt. Shuksan in "Picture Lake". Is this photo upside down? 

 

 

Hard to tell. Hint: to properly view, stand on your head!

In the morning I hiked the ridge trail and got some panoramas of Mt. Shuksan and Mt. Baker which is still active and occasionally blows off some steam. On the way down I chatted with Ranger Graham about the areas geology and potential for tragedy or natural growth to the immediate areas, depending on one's perspective.

 From there I politely  shouted "Au revoir "to our Canadian neighbors and headed south through Sedro-Woolley on to explore some more of the North Cascades Mountains..........

Juggling Snowballs in August!

For Photos and Videos please check out the following links:

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Photography Website  

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Going to the Olympics!

I'm Going to the Olympics!  (mid August)

First Beach at La Push

So if you are going to the Olympics you need to be properly energized. Therefore I stopped at Poulsbohemian Cafe for coffee and a bagel while enjoying both them and a wonderful view of Puget's Sound before entering Olympic National Park (www.nps.gov/olym). After viewing their 25 minute introductory movie, among other things it gives you a sense of how large the park is and that it is one of the most diverse environments on Earth. Being late afternoon I decided to head west into the park and find a place to stay for the night. Along the way I stopped to pick up a hitchhiker. Just prior to opening the door, I made sure my knife was within reach, the shotgun was loaded, the 9mm cocked and the ejection seat button primed, just in case this 90 lb senior Native American was intent on doing me harm. 

I asked Jill where she was headed and she said home to La Push which is a reservation on the coast and where most of the "Twilight" series is based out of. It was a good 50 miles away and about 40 miles farther than I was planning on driving that evening, but then life has a way of throwing curves at you. So along the way we got to know each other, I decided to take her all way home and somewhere along the way she adopted me as extended family and opened up her home and life to me. So after giving me the tour of the reservation, which took all of about 2 minutes, we parked at her home across from the town's west coast marina and had a few beers while listening to Bob Marley and watching the sun set on the near off shore islands where many of the tribe's elders are buried. 

Later I met her daughter while watching movies on the couch she offered me for the night. And a little later as I returned from the bathroom I found her asleep on that very same couch looking snug and content with my pillow and blanket. So I wound up sleeping in van after all, but Jill made it up to me the next morning with a delicious hot breakfast of fresh Halibut, home fries and coffee! 

Mora Beach

She told me to stay as long as I like and when I hinted that I would probably be moving on she replied to "just do your thing". So my first thing to do was sit at First Beach on the "Res" and watch the boats come and go for a while. After a spell I headed south to 3rd Beach and eventually drove around to Mora Beach to spend a foggy night on the Pacific North West shore.

Heading east the next morning I made my way back into the main part of the park and visited Hurricane Ridge. It was foggy, overcast and a bit drizzly along the way, which is not unusual for this area, but it was enough to dissuade me from the bike ride I was planning and cause me to wonder if I would be able to see anything. However, as I climbed in altitude I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with clear skies and views of Mount Olympus. From there I shot photos until the fog rolled in and with it plummeting temperatures. 

Mt. Olympus Sunset

The following morning on the way down I had to pull over for what seemed like the Tour de France. Gaggles of weekend road cyclists eager to descend at a faster pace than Mage and I were willing to dare while sipping my mornings cup of joe. 

Bainbridge Museum Art

My next stop was Bainbridge Island on the west side of Puget Sound. I had gotten wind that they had recently opened there own art museum featuring the wares of the Pacific Northwest Artists and decided to have a look. Overall I thought it a lovely little museum. The artistic media is very varied and they even have a children's museum. Something for everyone really. I suggest going if you are in the area and have an hour or  two. If you have a little more time you might also consider checking out the adult museum as well! ;p

Bainbridge Harbor Trail Sculpture

To ruminate on the art I followed the museum visit up with a stroll along the Bainbridge Harbor Water Trail while I killed some time before meeting up with an area meditation group. Afterwards, I ventured into Fay State Park on the shore of Puget Sound to spend a quiet evening with views of the Seattle skyline and the sounds of gently lapping waves. I guess I get a bonus point for helping a couple of young ladies set up their tent. Although, you probably have to deduct that point for watching them struggle for 30 minutes before stepping in to help! I probably should have offered to help sooner, but today with the whole "equality thing" I find it tough to judge the timing in such instances.

 

Why do we make life so complicated?..........

For Photos and Videos please check out the following links:

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Flickr  

Photography Website  

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